Vol. 421 No. 1
2 Mr. Bell asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he intends, as a matter of urgency, to change the legislation which prevents widows whose deceased husbands obtained foreign divorces and re-married, from qualifying for widow's pension; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Although there is no provision for obtaining a divorce in Ireland the law does recognise foreign divorces in certain circumstances. In deciding an application for a widow's pension where a foreign divorce is involved, the Department must be satisfied that the applicant is a widow under the laws of the State before her application can be entertained. The legal provisions relating to foreign divorces are to be found in the Domicile and Recognition of Foreign Divorces Act, 1986, and not in social welfare legislation.
If a divorce is recognised in Ireland then the wife from whom the man is divorced cannot be regarded as his widow on his death and she cannot qualify for widow's pension. In these circumstances if the husband has re-married then his second wife could qualify for pension in the event of his death. If the divorce is not recognised in Ireland then his first wife is his widow and she may qualify for widow's pension. In all these cases, qualification for widow's pension would be subject to the normal qualifying criteria under the Social Welfare Acts.
In thanking the Minister for his reply may I ask him if he would agree that there is an anomaly in the system which may not affect thousands of people but at least affects an important section of the community? Would he also agree that under this regulation it is the wife of the person concerned who loses out?
I recognise that an ever-increasing number of claims will be made under this heading. It is estimated that at present about 1 per cent of claims for widow's pension involve divorce but it is considered likely that this figure will increase substantially over time. I should point out, however, that it is the courts of the land which decide whether a foreign divorce should be recognised here and my Department operate on that basis.
I accept that there are anomalies in social wselfare legislation arising from the absence of divorce legislation here; this does no apply to the question the Deputy tabled. While it is not my remit, hopefully in time the Government will get around to rectifying that position in the context of the proposed White Paper on marital breakdown, in which it is to be hoped they will address these issues as well.
